Wyoming Towns Join ICE’s 287(g) Program to Enforce Harsh Immigration Policies Locally

More Wyoming communities are lining up to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through so-called 287(g) agreements, a program that deputizes local law enforcement to carry out federal immigration duties. Since the Trump administration revived the “Task Force Model” of 287(g) in 2025—a program the Obama administration had phased out in 2012 amid concerns over racial profiling and civil rights abuses—Wyoming towns like Wheatland, Shoshoni, Pine Bluffs, and Moorcroft have signed new pacts with ICE.

These agreements let local police and sheriffs’ departments conduct immigration enforcement during routine policing, effectively turning them into extensions of ICE. The Trump administration and Congress have pumped billions into immigration enforcement, with ICE now the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency thanks to a $75 billion budget through 2029. Some of that federal cash flows down to Wyoming law enforcement agencies that cooperate with ICE.

The program comes with serious consequences. Immigration advocates and community members warn that 287(g) agreements erode trust between immigrant communities and local police, leading to racial profiling and civil rights violations. Protests have erupted in places like Rock Springs and Cheyenne, where residents demand an end to local cooperation with ICE.

Dana Ward, an organizer of anti-ICE protests in Sweetwater County, pointed out that the Obama administration discontinued these task force agreements for good reasons: they were inefficient and caused harm to community relations. Yet Wyoming sheriffs argue that participating in 287(g) gives them some oversight of federal immigration operations in their jurisdictions, preventing ICE from acting unilaterally.

Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jason Mower said, “If this was going to be a federal priority... we didn’t want the federal government to come into Sweetwater County, unannounced and unbeknownst to us, and basically do whatever they want without our oversight.”

But the reality is that these partnerships deepen the reach of aggressive immigration enforcement into local communities. Crook County Sheriff Jeff Hodge, whose office has had a 287(g) agreement since January, claims deputies focus on criminals rather than all undocumented immigrants. Yet his office collaborates with ICE agents on operations targeting immigrant truck drivers and suspected human traffickers, leading to arrests and deportations.

Wyoming’s patchwork approach to 287(g) enforcement means that immigration policing varies widely across counties, but the trend is clear: local law enforcement is increasingly complicit in Trump-era immigration crackdowns. This expansion comes amid growing evidence that 287(g) programs contribute to racial profiling, civil rights abuses, and community fear.

As Wyoming communities sign on to these agreements, they become frontline enforcers of a federal immigration agenda that prioritizes mass arrests and deportations over human rights and community trust. The question remains whether the financial incentives and promises of oversight outweigh the real costs to civil liberties and social cohesion in these towns.